Davidson board gets two newcomers

DAVIDSON – Beth Cashion and Stacey Anderson will join Rodney Graham, Jim Fuller and Brian Jenest on the Davidson Board of Town Commissioners.

The board was guaranteed to have at least one new member after Laurie Venzon had to vacate her seat over the summer when she and her husband moved out of town.

Cashion, a sales director who serves on the Davidson Planning Board, easily took that seat, earning 1,441 votes. She had spent the most money in the race, including $3,500 on political consulting fees, and posted an endorsement from Venzon on her website.

Cashion earned the most votes in a race in which the four incumbents promoted themselves as a team.

During an election forum, sponsored by the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce, incumbents touted a town survey that gave the board high marks. Mayor John Woods went as far as endorsing each of the incumbents, without naming which of the five newcomers he’d support for the fifth seat.

“I would say that things are going pretty well in Davidson,” Graham said after winning a second term on the board. “We had a number of accomplishments the last couple of years. I think generally people are satisfied with the direction the town is going.”

Graham, a developer who serves as president of the Davidson Lands Conservancy, earned the most votes among incumbents, with 1,194. He was followed by Fuller (1,099) and Jenest (1,097).

Fuller, an attorney at McIntosh Law Firm, chalked up his chance to serve a second term to trying to reach everybody in every neighborhood.

Fuller and Graham said they’ll miss serving on the board with Connie Wessner, an administrator with Community School of Davidson who has served as a commissioner since 2009.

Anderson edged out Wessner for the fifth and final seat by 55 votes. She attributed her win to having broad support throughout the town, as well as her experience in the banking and nonprofit sectors.

Anderson works as a senior vice president and strategic planning manager for Wells Fargo. She also serves as the chairwoman for the United Way of Central Carolinas Mooresville/Lake Norman.

“I’m just really excited to be elected,” Anderson said. “I think we’ve got a good board. I think we’ll work really well together.”